Seeing the amassing group, Arzhen knew that problems would arise if she waited any longer, she showed herself openly in front of the group. However the bears living up to their nature, were more cautious. Although their faces were full of hatred, they weren't yet blinded by rage. Perhaps it was because they knew she wasn't easy to deal with.
This wasn't what Arzhen wanted. If there were too many, she doesn't know if she could take out as many as she hoped before they came up with measures for the traps. She guessed that she would have to use up more energy than she wanted to finish the vanguard. She couldn't help but sigh that these bears weren't going to be as easy as the lions to fool.
Knowing that she had no choice, she threw herself straight into the group. Ripping and tearing. Her claws felt as if they were cutting stone, and her teeth were numb. The bears weren't weak in offense either, their attacks landed on her body, making her feel like she was being bombarded by boulders.
The bears that watched this black wolf attack them recklessly were joyous at the beginning, but after minutes of continuous attacks, they soon became more and more frightened. Although the wolf was showing injuries, it just never seemed to be enough to stop the attacks. Some of them had broken their claws attacking her, which terrified them. Unfortunately, they had no choice but to continue, hoping they could take down this terrifying opponent before they lost any more of their kin.
Arzhen seemed to be able to understand what the bears were thinking, and a flash of inspiration sparked. She started to purposely slow down her attacks, making them weaker as time went on. Allowing more injuries to show up on herself. Watching the increasing glee on the faces of the bears, she used her paw to fling up dirt and snow towards the faces of the bears and took the opportunity to seemingly flee in embarrassment.
The bears, though usually cautious, knew that if they let this wolf go back and recuperate, she would bring untold troubles to their attack. So they quickly made a decision and chased the black wolf into the forest.
The wolves had been watching the attack play out from a distance. They had been told to hide themselves in the snow, and pick off the bears that broke off from the group. They knew that the element of surprise was the only way they could win, so they made no noise.
They watched as the monster ran past them, as if seriously injured, they were shocked at first, but when they saw the horde of bears behind, they knew that she was still following the plan. After the majority of the group passed by, they saw the slower and already injured bears following up, and with the ingrained tacit understanding, they quickly attacked these weakened bears.
The attack came fast and the bears that were already filled with pain and exhaustion were ruthlessly set upon by large groups of wolves. It was only then that they realised they hadn't seen any other wolf from the start of the attack until now. Unfortunately, due to their injuries, they quickly fell under the joint attack of the wolves. Unwillingness and resentment stuck on their faces.
The wolves didn't care about how the bears felt. The leader of that group of wolves ordered them to carry the bear corpses back to the cave, and let any injured wolves go back to rest. The snow that had been only light before, became heavier, as if to hide the traces of the slaughter that had occurred there, not long before.
Arzhen led the bears past many of the hidden groups of wolves, letting them thin the numbers before they reached the traps.
The bears had felt that something was wrong, and noticed the decreasing numbers of their group. They started to become more uncertain about continuing.
Arzhen saw that they were getting suspicious and knew that there was a trap ahead, so she pretended to slip and let the blood on her body dye the snow under her, drawing back the bears attention. She passed the trap using the special path the wolves installed, and collapsed on the other side of the trap, as if she was going to die in the next second.
The eyes of all the bears lit up, and the suspicion that had been brewing was dispelled instantly in front of the 'dying' black wolf. They charged as fast as they could towards the behemoth that was laying in the snow ahead.
It wasn't until they felt that they had stepped on nothing, that brought them to their senses. They roared and screamed as they fell into the deep pit.
Arzhen watched as the helpless bears continued to fall. Their wails of pain after being impaled on the stakes at the bottom seemed to echo through the forest.
The bears tried to stop themselves from falling in, but were forced in by the bears behind that hadn't had time to stop. More and more whimpers came from the pit, and the few remaining bears that had managed to steady themselves knew that they had fallen for the wolves deceit. They wanted to retreat to let the rest of their kin know about the wolves ploy, but never noticed that at some point, a group of wolves had quietly lurked out of the surrounding forest.
Just as the groups before, they quickly attacked the tired bears. Taking those corpses back to the cave. The ones that had fallen into the pit were too difficult to retrieve. So the last thing that the few living bears at the bottom of the pit saw was the hole they were in being filled with dirt. Their screams and pleading came from the hole, but the wolves continued to fill in the dirt indifferently.
The first battle was a complete victory for the wolves. Over 1/5 of the bears had fallen in just one morning, and the wolves hadn't even lost a single member yet, but they knew this strategy wouldn't be effective for long, and the losses they would face then, were not going to be small.